Donald Trump just hit a new low—if that’s even possible. This week he pardoned a person responsible for more American deaths than Bin Laden caused on 9/11. And the reason Trump did this was to personally profit from the transaction. And yes, Trump’s pardons are all transactional in that he benefits from each of them financially and/or politically.

This latest pardon was of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez—a narco-terrorist who was a business associate of the notorious drug dealer El Chapo. Hernandez served as President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022--but in reality his real business was flooding the United States with cocaine. As the U.S. Department of Justice put it, Hernandez “was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.” (Below is from DOJ Press release after the conviction.)



Trump knew that by pardoning Hernandez it would destroy his claim that the reason he’s executing people in small boats off the coast of Venezuela was to protect Americans from drugs. This is especially true given the cocaine Hernandez dumped into the U.S. killed tens of thousands of Americans by way of overdoses. Yet Trump doesn’t care because the benefit he receives from pardoning this convicted drug kingpin was worth it.

Hernandez was no low-level drug dealer. He was the key player in orchestrating a vast drug trafficking conspiracy that raked in millions for cartels while keeping Honduras one of Central America’s poorest, most violent and most corrupt countries. Federal prosecutors were able to prove in his 2024 trial that Hernández--as a congressman and then President of Honduras--partnered with the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquín Guzman Loera aka El Chapo, among other people.

As evidence at trial detailed, members of the Hernandez drug conspiracy often turned to violence and murder to protect and grow their drug trafficking enterprise--attacking rival traffickers who threatened their grip on the Honduran cocaine trade. As DOJ explained, Hernandez’s co-conspirators “were armed with machine guns and destructive devices, including AK-47s, AR-15s, and grenade launchers, which they used to protect their massive cocaine loads as they transited across Honduras on their way to the United States.”

In return, Hernandez personally received “millions of dollars of drug money from some of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere, and used those bribes to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.” Yes, he worked with the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for producing fentanyl-- the primary driver of U.S. drug overdose deaths as the DEA has documented.

This guy was worse than “Scarface” in that he used the full powers of his political offices to benefit himself and his partners in crime. DOJ proved that at trial, explaining that as Hernández rose to power in Honduras, “he provided increased support and protection for his co-conspirators, allowing them to move mountains of cocaine, commit acts of violence and murder, and help turn Honduras into one of the most dangerous countries in the world.”

Hernandez would corruptly work with the United States to prosecute drug traffickers who threatened his grip on power--while at the same time promising drug traffickers who bribed him that they would remain safe in Honduras. And as prosecutors showed at trial, Hernandez enjoyed unleashing the cocaine on the United States, boasting he would “stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses.”

Overall, the federal government proved that during his political career, “Hernández abused his powerful positions and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.” Yes, the man Trump just pardoned facilitated the smuggling of 400 tons of cocaine into our nation--which is the equivalent of 800,000 pounds or 363 million grams.

It’s one of President Trump’s favorite stories: The Democrats weakened the borders, allowing Mexican drug cartels to smuggle fentanyl into the United States, where it devastated white suburban and rural communities. To stop this “evil scourge,” he has imposed tariffs on China for its role in fentanyl production. His administration is reportedly considering military strikes in Latin America. And Mr. Trump has built up the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country,” he told reporters of his campaign of deadly strikes.

(snip)

The fentanyl story is based on an argument about history: The United States went from greatness to crisis because open-border Democrats betrayed the honest, hardworking people of America by exporting jobs and allowing in foreign drugs. Stopping the drugs, Mr. Trump wants us to believe, will let the wholesome, traditional American culture that he idealizes to flourish again. As a historian of drugs, I can tell you that this argument is wrong in almost every way.

There is no wholesome, traditional drug-free America that we can return to. Americans have always used a lot of drugs — even in the white suburbs and rural areas that Mr. Trump’s supporters call the “real America.”

The first drug crisis came in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. In the unregulated, buyer-beware markets of that era, sales of pharmaceutical morphine, cocaine and heroin rose precipitously. Addiction rates skyrocketed, mostly among the white, propertied class of Americans who had ready access to a doctor.

I know a lot of you are here to
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talk about the forthcoming national
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security strategy, national defense
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strategy, America's role in the world.
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um very timely discussion since the word
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on the street is those strategies are
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being rewritten and reoriented to focus
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on homeland defense rather than
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competition with China and those kinds
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of things. Sounds reasonable enough. Uh
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but here's the thing. In 2025, homeland
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threats aren't being defined by the
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Pentagon or based on what the
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intelligence community deems are
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greatest threats. They are being
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determined by one man, Donald Trump, and
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Donald Trump alone. and he is showing
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the world just how willing he is to use
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force against his enemies. Now, our
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system is set up to give the president,
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any president, real power to make
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decisions on national security and
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foreign policy. And that's because when
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it comes to keeping us safe from attack,
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a commander-in-chief needs the power to
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make quick decisions. Um, as someone who
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b worked in both a Republican um White
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House and a Democratic White House, I
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saw these critical decisions made up
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close. You need the power to act when
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it's about life and death. But Trump has
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laid out a whole lot of enemies that are
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American citizens. And if he's willing
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to use lethal force against enemies
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abroad, as we've been seeing, what's
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stopping him from using lethal force
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against enemies here at home? That
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question should chill every American to
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the bone. And I'm giving this speech
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today because I believe that's exactly
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the plan. I believe that Trump is ready
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to bring the full weight of the federal
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government against Americans he
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perceives as enemies. Why? Because he
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has one goal. Making sure that he and
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his ilk never have to give up power.
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Now, to be clear, I don't say this
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lightly, but I think between the strikes
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in the Caribbean, his efforts to
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identify domestic terrorists, and his
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deployment of force in American cities,
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that seems to be where we're headed.
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So, I want to start with what's
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happening in the Caribbean. Let's review
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the bidding. Since early September,
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Trump administration has announced
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attacks on 14 ships. They've killed 57
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people. The Trump administration
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notified Congress that we, as Americans,
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are in armed conflict with a number of
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cartels, which they have called
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designate designated terrorist
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organizations. They argue that the
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strikes are fair game because the boats
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are filled with drugs being smuggled
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into American cities. On the surface,
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this makes sense to a lot of Americans,
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and I'm actually sympathetic to going
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after these types of groups given what
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drugs do to Michiganders every day. But
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here's what's different about the
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strikes and what's precedent setting.
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The president and Secretary Hegsth are
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refusing to tell the American people who
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we are fighting. They won't tell us the
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names and they won't tell us why they're
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being targeted. Few weeks ago, the
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Senate Armed Services Committee, the
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committee I sit on, received a briefing
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on these strikes. During the briefing,
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members from both sides of the aisle,
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asked the Defense Department for the
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name and number of the organizations
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that the United States is currently at
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war with. They refused to provide it. We
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asked for a copy of the memo from the
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Justice Department that lays out the
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legal case for these strikes. They
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refused to provide it. Whatever our
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differences are these days, I think it's
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safe to say that the American people
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deserve to know who we are at war with,
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especially if people are being killed in
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our name. And just for reference, for
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those of us who worked on the global war
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on terror, we named the groups we were
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going after. Think about al-Qaeda or
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ISIS. Congress knew the name of every
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targeted group. The administration at
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the time provided the intelligence that
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justified going after these groups. and
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why it was legal to do so.
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But as much concern as I have about the
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Caribbean strikes, it's nothing compared
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to my concern concern over Trump's full
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reorientation towards the quote enemy
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within. That reorientation has major
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implications for his use of force inside
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the United States. Last month, the
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president quietly put out an executive
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order directing the Department of
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Justice to create a list of quote
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domestic terrorist organizations.
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The order lays out a broad definition
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groups that are accused of
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anti-Americanism,
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anti- capitalism, anti-Christianity,
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or hostility towards those who hold
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quote traditional American views on
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family, religion, or morality.
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And these groups don't have to be
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violent to get themselves on the list.
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The order suggested that the DOJ could
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look at chat groups, in-person meetings,
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social media, and even schools.
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To be clear, US law on domestic
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terrorism is squishy, mostly because of
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the First Amendment. But it seems clear
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from his own order that Trump plans to
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see how far he can stretch the law
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before someone tells him no. And if the
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administration won't publicly name drug
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cartels in the Caribbean, you can bet
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that they're not going to tell you the
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name of this new list of domestic
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terrorist organizations.
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Only this time, the secret lists are not
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made up of drug traffickers in
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international waters. It'll be Americans
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on American streets and in American
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homes. So, let's play it out. What
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happens to the people on the secret
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list?
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The next logical step is that the
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president would use the full power of
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the federal government to target those
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American citizens. In theory, people on
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this list could be wiretapped, their
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homes could be searched, or they could
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be arrested just for disagreeing with
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President Trump's agenda.
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I never thought I'd have to lay this out
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about my own government.
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This is the kind of stuff that is
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fundamentally unamerican and strikes at
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the heart of who we are as a people.
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And we've already seen anecdotal
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evidence that this is happening.

A few weeks ago, however, Ken Griffin pronounced that he was shocked, shocked to discover that Trump isn’t a champion of free enterprise after all, and that he’s actually building a system of crony capitalism in which business success depends on your political connections. Well, I could have told Griffin that this was coming. In fact, I did.

Still, better late than never. Griffin deserves some credit for being willing to speak publicly about his current misgivings over Trump, rather than joining the nauseating chorus of praise for Dear Leader. So I found it interesting that he sees the soaring price of gold as an economic warning sign, an indication that Trump is causing the world to lose faith in America.

Here’s the price of gold over the past year. The price of gold is currently $4,037 per troy ounce, a record-setting price as it has skyrocketed in the past two months. It has risen over 54% since mid-November 2024: